1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to devices for preventing theft of portable objects, and particularly to a novel and useful ski lock designed to discourage the theft of skis, and, in particular, from a skiing area and near the ski lodge.
2. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Skiing has become one of the most popular sports engaged in by the public at large; so much so that, on a given day, thousands of skiers may congregate in one area to engage in the sport. Most skiing areas are equipped with day lodges and rest rooms. In order to use such facilities, it is of course necessary for the skier to remove his or her skis. Because of the general lack of safekeeping facilities, the skier commonly stabs his or her skis and poles into the snow into a small area where perhaps hundreds of others have left their skis in a similar position. Because of the high cost of skis and the bindings thereon, such equipment is inviting to other skiers and people who have rented skis and thieves. A means of discouraging the theft of the skis is to lock the skis in a crossed position so that they will be difficult and conspicuous to carry, and difficult to transport in or on a vehicle. An owner of a pair of skis, having the means to unlock the skis from a crossed position, would not, ordinarily, carry them or transport them in that position. It would thus be apparent that a person carrying the skis locked in a crossed position would probably not be the owner of the skis and would, prima facie, be suspected of having stolen them. The crossed skis would be a signal to other skiers that the skis were, possibly being stolen.
Patents have been issued claiming devices for locking skis together and for locking skis in a crossed position. In some of the patented or disclosed devices, the ski owner must carry on his person, when the skis are being used for skiing, a lock, or a locking cable, or a pair of brackets or the like. Such articles often have sharp corners or edges and, when carried on the person, may cause injury to the skier when he falls, as all skiers do from time to time. It is also possible for the skier to lose such articles on the ski slopes, rendering the lock useless. Such patented or disclosed ski cross-locking devices, as are completely contained on the skis themselves, tend to be relatively complicated or expensive to manufacture.